One of the biggest stories of 2017 and 2018 is the return of Luke Skywalker in ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi.’
As the pressure mounts to not spoil the film, Mark Hamill did a phone interview with the Associated Press this past week and the actor explained how Luke has changed.
‘Absolutely. Luke changed, I think, more than the other characters in the original trilogy, from callow farm boy to a Jedi in training to finally a Jedi master. What you’re talking about is what really fascinated me. Between “Return of the Jedi” and “Force Awakens,” there’s just decades of history that’s unknown. So I was wondering how they’re going to handle all this. Now, obviously, with “Force Awakens,” J.J. (Abrams) had a full plate. It was inevitable that they would push me down the line. I was sorry I wasn’t able to work with any of the original actors again. But it’s not about us anymore. In this new one, I was saying to Rian Johnson: I need to know my backstory. It was kind of unclear. You read where he is now and what he’s doing now and sort of have to fill in the blanks for yourself. So I did do a backstory myself. It’s not about Luke anymore, so it’s not really important. But I had to make sense of it for myself. What Rian came up with, I was stunned,’ said Hamill to the AP.
The line, ‘What Rian came up with, I was stunned,’ gives me chills every time I read it. Hamill is very excited to explore the past 34 years, but he understands his time has passed, and it is now in the hands of a new generation of heroes.
‘A thing that felt maybe wrong about coming back was the fact that the original trilogy had a beginning, a middle and an end. But there’s two ways of looking at that. On the one hand, it had closure. But if you look at it another way, it’s the story of how Luke went from becoming a farm boy to a Jedi and then the story ends. It would be like telling the story of how James Bond got his license to kill and became 007, and the story ends,’ said Hamill to the AP.
The actor knows he has some unfinished business. The photo below is proof.
About ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’
The Skywalker saga continues as the heroes of The Force Awakens join the galactic legends in an epic adventure that unlocks age-old mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past
‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi,’ which is written and directed by Rian Johnson and continues the storylines introduced in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, Andy Serkis, Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern, and Kelly Marie Tran.
‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ hits theaters on December 15.
How important is it that Rian Johnson gets Luke Skywalker right? Comment below.
With the weather being unpredictable in recent weeks, many people are searching for alternative forms of entertainment. Luckily for us, Marvel’s latest Blu-ray release, Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 2 graced us with its presence this week and it’s chock full nerdy goodness. The gag reel is one of the best one’s I’ve ever seen on a Marvel release. What makes this release stand out amongst the crowd of Marvel films is the quality of the featurettes.
“In the Director’s Chair with James Gunn” –
This is a very insightful 10 minute look into the methods Gunn uses with the crew and his cast. The whole cast loves him and chimes during this segment. The biggest laugh out loud moment was with Michael Rooker when he called his director the most handsome man he’s ever worked with.
“Reunion Tour: The Music of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” –
For anyone who has seen the Guardians films, music plays a key role in influencing the tone and even the dialogue in both releases. Gunn spends time discussing his influences and diving into what musical genre had an impact in both Guardian films.
“Living Planets and Talking Trees: The VFX of Vol. 2” –
Visual effects play a larger role in Volume 2 and we learn more about this from special effects guru Christopher Townsend. The VFX team get into how they went about creating the living planet EGO and the sequence which ultimately leads to his demise.
“Showtime: The Cast of Vol. 2” –
What’s great about this segment is the amount of interaction we are treated to amongst the cast. We get an extended look at Bradley Cooper’s recording session and get to see Rooker cutting up with a Sylvester Stallone on set.
“Guardians of the Galaxy: INFERNO” –.
Take the disco era, mix it with outrageous costumes, multiple cameos, and David Hasselhoff to add some flavor. While it’s hard to come up with a word to describe this “music video”, this trainwreck made me laugh so hard it brought tears to my eyes.
Three X-Men books were tied into the Inhumans Vs X-Men event: Uncanny, All-New, and Extraordinary. While the three series are all by different writers and artists, they all followed the same model for the crossover event. Each issue is a focused character piece, observing how the war between the two groups of heroes affects several X-Men individually. This concept was an excellent editorial choice, as it created a sense of unison between the three books and increased the weight of the events. In fact, it’s a shame that the crossover issues of Uncanny Inhumans didn’t use the same model. Oddly, that series didn’t even intersect with the events at all but followed an entirely different set of characters who weren’t at any of the battles. The story was fun but just didn’t feel necessary. But the X-Men went for pathos, and it made the finales stronger.
Because all three volumes acted more like a series of one-shots, reviewing them all at once makes it a little odd. So this review will focus on the best issues from each volume, and an overall assessment of the volume, including art and writing.
Uncanny X-Men: Superior Vol 4: IvX
(collecting issues 16-19, Annual 1)
Writers: Cullen Bunn, Anthony Piper (Annual)
Art: Edgar Salazar, Ken Lashley (#17, Annual), Anthony Piper (Annual)
This volume was probably the weakest out of the three series, but it still had some great moments. The first issue focused on Fantomex, the next on Sabretooth struggling with his inner demons as he tries to help Monet fight her own. The finale saw Psylocke in a brutal fight with Magneto, but ultimately a rushed story. The annual had a great story about Elixir coming back with immense power, and a fun story with Domino.
But the best story goes to issue #18, which focused on Xorn, who wasn’t even a member of the team, oddly. Xorn spent the series protecting mutants who fell victim to the Someday organization, offering them a haven in his monastery. Then the war hits, the X-Men take over New Attilian, and someone needs to play warden. Xorn, Archangel, and Sebastian Shaw take command over the city, and the “Sleepers” that Someday exploited became prison guards. Xorn, striving for peace, is conflicted with his role and feels that he has betrayed the Sleepers by putting them into a conflict that they came to him to avoid in the first place. We don’t get a lot of Xorn stories, so an entire issue dedicated to him was great to see, and it developed him nicely—especially his final decision on where he would go after the war. (SPOILER: The moon!)
Overall, the art serves well, and the writing is probably the strongest the series had in its entire run. Lashley’s issue in Limbo was probably the best drawn, just for the landscape.
Overall: ★★★½
All-New X-Men: Inevitable Vol 4: IvX
(collecting issues 17-19, Annual 1)
Writers: Dennis Hopeless, Sina Grace (Annual), Rex Ogle (Annual)
Art: Mark Bagley, Paco Diaz (#19), Andrea Boccardo (Annual), Cory Smith (Annual)
The series had the best art of the three books. Here, we get stories from Iceman and his Inhuman boyfriend Romeo, who wants no part of this war. Best revealing to the rest of the original five that they are lost in the timeline when he brings them back in time and reveals they never left, and, one of the cutest stories yet, Idie’s first date.
For this volume, it is also #18 that stands out, focusing on young Cyclops. He hates himself for what his older self-has caused. But then something happens—Mosaic takes over his body, right after possessing Magneto. Because of this, he sees what happened to Old Cyclops, that he died from the M-Pox virus and it was Emma Frost who started the war between X-Men and Inhumans. The curse he’s felt for months that he would grow up to be a terrorist is lifted, and he’s pissed. It was the best way to conclude Cyclops character arc for this volume. Now he can go back to being hopeful.
Overall: ★★★★
Extraordinary X-Men Vol 4: IvX
(collecting 17-20)
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Art: Eric Koda (17, 19), Victor Ibanez (18,20)
The series with the best writing out of all three books also had the worst art. It’s inconsistent, and both artists tend to make the characters look like mushed clay. These stories deserved a lot better. We get Forge making peace with both Storm and Old Man Logan. In fact, Logan and Forge need to go on more adventures together. Magik likewise comes to terms with how she had to kill Sapna to protect X-Haven. And there’s a cute adventure of the X-Men saving Cerebra after the final battle in Inhumand Vs X-Men.
Without a doubt, and the best issue not just in this book, but in all three, is #17—and the focus isn’t even on a major X-Men character. At least, not directly. This story shows what was at stake for the mutants more than any other. A teenage girl goes looking for Storm as her little sister is dying from M-Pox. All her sister wanted since having to go to X-Haven was to meet Storm, and the older sister is set on making that happen, even as the X-Men ignore her, and Storm is preparing for war. It’s an important moment for Storm too, a reminder that they don’t have time for diplomacy. Spoiler…it’s a sad story. It would have been a beautiful story if the art was better.
Overall: ★★★★
X-Men Prime
(collected in both All-New X-Men: Inevitable Vol 4, and Extraordinary X-Men Vol 4)
Writers: Cullen Bunn, Mark Guggenheim, Greg Pak
Art: Leonard Kirk, Ken Lashley, Ibraim Roberson
This didn’t need to be collected in two volumes, other than maybe to pad All-New X-Men’s final trade. It fit well at the end of Extraordinary X-Men though, since a lot of it dealt with Storm wanting to leave the X-Men after leading them into war (something Medusa also did in Uncanny Inhumans). Using Kitty Pryde worked wonderfully, as she was out in space during the entire conflict, and is coming in fresh, seeing the wounds that M-Pox caused, and the confusion over what to do next. Her choice, and stories teased to come is enough to make any X-Fan excited.
Deadline.com has reported that Scott McGehee (The Deep End) and David Siegel (The Deep End, Suture, What Maisie Knew) have partnered with Warner Bros to create a new, modernized iteration of Lord of the Flies, William Golding’s classic contribution to the Western Literary Canon. However, their intention is to adapt the novel with a very particular, key twist: the film, which famously focuses on a group of young boys stranded on an island who descend into madness once the social order they’ve constructed crumbles, will replace its male cast with an all-female one.
In a conversation with Deadline, Siegel said of their modern Lord of the Flies: ““We want to do a very faithful but contemporized adaptation of the book, but our idea was to do it with all girls rather than boys. It is a timeless story that is especially relevant today, with the interpersonal conflicts and bullying, and the idea of children forming a society and replicating the behavior they saw in grownups before they were marooned.”
In addition, McGeehee discussed the subject matter of the novel, describing it as “aggressively suspenseful, and taking the opportunity to tell it in a way it hasn’t been told before, with girls rather than boys, is that it shifts things in a way that might help people see the story anew. It breaks away from some of the conventions, the ways we think of boys and aggression. People still talk about the movie and the book from the standpoint of pure storytelling. It is a great adventure story, real entertainment, but it has a lot of meaning embedded in it as well. We’ve gotten to think about this awhile as the rights were worked out, and we’re super eager to put pen to paper.”
Each of what the two men had to say about the subject was promising, and their previous work, which has focused heavily on depicting trauma through the eyes of young people, is certainly promising. An all-female Lord of the Flies sounds fascinating.
The only foreseeable issue here is that there are no women currently attached to the project, and this is likely to be a point of (mostly rightful) contention among consumers of the film. A group of men telling the story of a group of young girls getting violent with each other on an island is likely to take on sexist undertones. However, with the right talent attached to the project, this could easily be averted.
Here’s to hoping they manage to get the right people on board.
Geoff Johns has once again revealed an exciting new Doomsday Clock detail over on Twitter. The very generous DC President and Chief Creative Officer tweeted the below image:
The image is prior existing Watchmen art by Dave Gibbons. Doomsday Clock is scheduled to hit comic shops on November 22, just in time for a long Thanksgiving weekend.
DC Comics presents to you a 12-issue maxiseries from the critically acclaimed team of writer Geoff Johns, artist Gary Frank, and colorist Brad Anderson. You are not prepared for what lies ahead within these pages, good readers.
What do you guys think? Does this mean Rorschach will be taking on the Justice League? Or perhaps he will be teaming up with them to fight Doctor Manhattan (seeing as how he did die at the end of Watchmen either seems unlikely, but hey it IS comics…).
As always more details should be on the way in the coming months and you can always count on us at Monkeys Fighting Robots to bring you the latest! Comment and discuss below!
Game Of Thrones season seven has come to an end, and I don’t know about you, but that felt like the fastest seven weeks in the history of time. From destroying armies with Dragon fire to holding political meetings, this season of the HBO fantasy series has been one of the most epic so far, and with the season officially over and the long hiatus ahead, it’s time to start over-analysing the completed season. So without further ado, here’s Monkeys Fighting Robots’ favourite moments from the penultimate season of Game Of Thrones.
After years of watching and waiting, Daenerys has finally returned to Westeros and her ancestral home, Dragonstone. This is one of the most iconic scenes we’ve ever seen in Game Of Thrones, and seeing Daenerys kneel on the beach at Dragonstone was such a powerful and emotional moment. The lack of music, sound, and dialogue made this one of the most memorable moments of the season, and that it was an excellent way to begin the end of this epic tale.
You might not know this, but Arya Stark is my favourite Game Of Thrones character and seeing her get revenge on the Freys was one of the best moments of the entire series. This scene not only solidified Arya’s “badass” status but showed how powerful Arya has become and displayed how destructive her ability to swap faces can be. Arya Stark can be anybody, anywhere and that’s both terrifying and amazing.
While I’ve never been a massive fan of Lady Olenna, it undeniable that she had one of the best death scenes in the entire series. This is a character that has never kept her opinion to herself, so to see her gulp down that wine and finally admit to poisoning King Joffrey was one of the most enjoyable and satisfying scenes of the season.
It’s the meeting we’ve waited seven seasons to see. The King in the North finally met the Mother of Dragons, and it was incredible. Having two of the shows most popular characters finally meet is obviously a big deal, and it was exciting to see how Jon and Daenerys would interact, and I’ve got to admit I loved the less than warm welcome Jon received. Throughout the scene, we were all wondering if Jon could sway Daenerys to his side or if Daenerys would simply kill the so called King.
Over the course of the series we’ve seen Arya develop into a warrior, but it wasn’t until her match against Brienne that we understood how deadly and skilled Arya has become. This scene was not only amazing because of the sheer awesomeness of Arya’s skill, but the fact that Sansa and Littlefinger were watching, only made the moment greater. Also, it’s hard to deny that it was incredible to see Brienne learn that this young girl doesn’t need much protection.
Somehow, Game Of Thrones managed to bring some of the best warriors together and put them into one of the most surprising and badass teams we’ve ever seen. Fans called them the Avengers beyond the wall, and I’ve got to agree. Jon Snow, The Hound, Tormund, Jorah Mormont, Beric Dondarrion, and Gendry make one hell of a team. Not to mention, Daenerys riding in to save the day was one of the most incredible sequences in Game Of Thrones history and a great moment for every character involved.
If you had told me at the start of the season that one of Daenerys’ Dragons would die and come back as an undead monster, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. But here we are. Not only did Viserion’s death come as a massive surprise, but his resurrection was even more shocking and depressing. Seeing the Dragons eye open again was possibly the most shocking scene of the entire season.
This was one of the most satisfying deaths Game Of Thrones has ever delivered, and that’s saying something. Littlefinger has been one of the most irritating characters throughout the entire series, and while he had some pretty great moments, I was counting down the episodes until his death, and I wasn’t disappointed. Littlefinger’s pathetic exit was one of my favourite scenes of the season and not only because of the obvious reasons. This scene meant a lot for Sansa as a character and yet again showed her development into a powerful and unsympathetic leader. It was also really cool to see that it was Arya that put Littlefinger in his grave.
Over the seasons we’ve seen the Dragons do some cool stuff. They’ve killed animals, cooked meat, and murdered children but we’ve never seen anything like this attack. The assault on the loot train was one of the most epic moments in Game Of Thrones, and somehow, it was even better than any action sequence I could imagine. We’ve been told how deadly these Dragons can be, but until we saw this sequence and witnessed the destruction that just one of these animals can cause, it became clear how powerful Daenerys really is.
While the final minutes of Game Of Thrones season seven weren’t the shows most surprising, it was incredibly fulfilling and exciting to see the Night King finally make his move and destroy the wall, with the help of his new friend/pet Viserion. Much like the loot train attack earlier in the season, this sequence proves that HBO isn’t afraid to spend money on the special effects. This sequence looked beautiful, and the resurrected Dragon was the highlight of the season. After seeing this episode and this scene, in particular, it’s starting to look like no human army can defeat the Night King.
‘Return of Jedi’ came out in 1983 and when the credits ended and you rewatched the film 22 times, every little kid holding an Ewok wanted to know what happened to Luke Skywalker moving forward.
34 years later, we finally get our answers, and by the looks of the latest ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ image Mark Hamill is ready to kick some Sith butt. This installment of the Star Wars Universe is Hamill’s time to shine, and he knows it. Do you remember how you squealed the first time you saw Yoda destroy the Sith in ‘Episode II’? Luke’s return will be even bigger.
The image above first appeared on the cover of a Hungarian film magazine,’Mozimania.’
The Skywalker saga continues as the heroes of The Force Awakens join the galactic legends in an epic adventure that unlocks age-old mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past
‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi,’ which is written and directed by Rian Johnson and continues the storylines introduced in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, Andy Serkis, Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern, and Kelly Marie Tran.
‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ hits theaters on December 15.
How important is it that Rian Johnson gets Luke Skywalker right? Comment below.
‘Mother!‘ was shot using 16 mm film. This is the fourth time Aronofsky has shot a film in this format. Also, Jennifer Lawrence teaches you how to win an Oscar, as she was so into her character that during the climactic scenes, she started hyperventilating and even cracked a rib.
About the film: a couple’s relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.
Written and directed by Darren Aronofsky, ‘Mother!‘ stars Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Ed Harris.
That’s No Misprint, Here Is Takashi Miike’s 100th Film!
To say that Takashi Miike is a workhorse is an understatement. Since his debut in 1991, the prolific director has pumped out more films than Quentin Tarantino, Alfred Hitchcock, and Stanley Kubrick….combined! With the release of Takashi Miike’s newest film, this marks his 100th film. Cinema fans might recognize some of his iconic films like Audition, Ichi The Killer, and 13 Assassins. Miike is already beyond his “100 movies” milestone and is working on his 102nd film now! Before we jump ahead of ourselves, let’s look at the latest work Blade of the Immortal!
Check out the trailer here:
“Manji is a samurai who apparently cannot be killed by any injury. He crosses paths with Rin Asano, whose parents are murdered by a group of master swordsmen, and promises to avenge their deaths.”
The film stars Takuya Kimura, Hana Sugisaki, Sōta Fukushi, Hayato Ichihara, Erika Toda, Kazuki Kitamura, Chiaki Kuriyama, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Ichikawa Ebizō XI, Min Tanaka and Tsutomu Yamazaki. Miike serves as the director with Tetsuya Oishi penning the script.
Blade of the Immortal follows Takashi Miike’s other forays into the samurai genre. Miike seems comfortable making Jidaigeki movies; Jidaigeki is Japanese for “period dramas” and usually between 1603 and 1868. It’s also another adaptation of a manga series. With this story, it’s a little more supernatural than Miike’s films like 13 Assassins and more like 2015’s Yakuza Apocalypse.
This movie looks to be ridiculous and violent as Takashi Miike’s past work, but it is nowhere near the ultra-violence in films like Ichi The Killer. Blade of the Immortal comes from a popular manga created by Hiroaki Samura. This project isn’t the first time Miike crafts a manga into a memorable film; it is fairly common for the director. Examples being Ichi The Killer and the upcoming adaptation of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
With the film already seeing a release in Japan, American audiences can expect to see the movie on November 3, 2017. Magnet Releasing acquired the distribution rights at Cannes Film Festival, while Warner Bros. Pictures distribution in Miike’s native Japan.
What do you think of this trailer? Do you have any feelings about Takashi Miike directing over 100 films? Let me know in the comments below!
After watching the ‘Killing Gunther’ trailer, it is very hard to look at the world in the same light again.
WTF!?
From the mind of Taran Killam watch the trailer at your own risk.
About the film: Schwarzenegger portrays the titular Gunther, the world’s greatest (and most arrogant) hitman. After the assassin community tires of his antics, a group of eccentric killers from across the globe come together to set the perfect trap. Their master plan quickly turns into a series of embarrassing fails as Gunther always appears one step ahead.
‘Killing Gunther’ is written and directed Killam’s, he also stars in the alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bobby Moynihan, Hannah Simone, Cobie Smulders, Paul Brittain, Amir Talai, Aaron Yoo, Ryan Gaul, and Allison Tolman.
No release date has been announced but the film is rumored for a released this fall.
What do you think, does Arnold have comedy genius in him? Comment below.
